The Towel Before The Throne

John 13:1-20

Pastor Keith Goodson

Transcript

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The style of leadership a leader embraces and employs is crucial. For it is what will motivate God to manage the expectations of his team. It is vital because it is inevitably directly impactful to the team. Member engagement, the team culture, and the team's measure of success. This is true in the family. This is true in the military. This is true in business. This is true in sports. Let's just consider these examples. Understanding that the commander that you're called to follow into battle understands the art of war and the commitment to duty that it takes to win goes a tremendous way in motivating his men to follow him into the fray of battle. Knowing that he's not sitting back in some armchair, but he's going there with you motivates you to follow him. Or sports, understanding that the coach of your team has excelled at that sport, right? And that their purpose, their commitment is to is in how they and how they train you reveals that they're invested not only in the success of the team, but they're invested in you. They care about you. They want to know what's going on. They want to help you be the best athlete that you can be. Knowing that, believing that has a similar effect on athletes. Understanding, or let's look at the family briefly. Understanding that a father and mother are united servants of God, equal in value, and purposefully entrusted by him to be good stewards of the family he gives them. In the context that's given to us by Scripture, that we must understand that both men and women have unique God-given roles, which when used as God designed, perfectly complement each other and complete the image of God's goodness and reveal the goodness of his gospel to our family when we embrace those roles as he describes them to us for the betterment of our family. God calls parents to implant in their children's hearts the good news of the gospel. He calls parents to implant in their children's hearts love, which mirrors God's love. And this in turn will cause their children to understand they will always be loved. There will never be a time when they are not loved, no matter what they do. Yeah, there's consequences to their choices, but they're always going to be loved. That's mirroring God's love. They will always be protected. Mom and dad truly have their best interests at heart. This is the message that good parents implant in their children's hearts and minds. And such causes a family to thrive as a witness in society. From out of that solid foundation of unconditional Christ-like love and uncompromising obedience to Christ. So we've looked at some examples in life here briefly. This morning, again, we're in John chapter 13, beginning in verse 1, going through verse 21. And this morning we're looking at one of the fundamental questions of our faith, if you will. As followers of Christ, how should we lead, follow, and serve? God, in his perfect wisdom, had Christ not only tell us how to do this, but he told us, he should show us how. And we're going to see one of the ways he does in this test. Let's read our text this morning. Beginning in verse 1 and going to verse 21. Now, before the feast of the Passover, Jesus, knowing that his hour had come, that he would depart out of this world to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. Some translations say, He showed them the full extent of his love. During supper, the devil having already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, to betray him, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given him all things into his hands, and that he had come forth from God and was going back to God, got up from supper and laid aside his garments, and taking a towel he girded himself. Then he poured water into the basin and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel which with which he was girded. So he came to Simon Peter, he said to him, Lord, do not wash my feet. And Jesus answered and said to him, What I do you do not realize now, but you will understand hereafter. Peter said to him, Never shall you wash my feet. And Jesus answered him, If I do not wash you, you have no part with me. Simon Peter said to him, Lord, then wash not only my feet, but also my hands and my head. And Jesus said to him, He who has bathed only need to wash his feet, but is completely clean, and you are clean, but not all of you. For he knew the one who was betraying him, for this reason he said not all of you are clean. So when he had washed their feet and taken his garments and reclined at the table again, he said to them, Do you know what I have done to you? You call me teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I then the Lord and teacher washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I gave you an example that you should you also should do as I did to you. Truly, truly I say to you a slave is not greater than his master, nor is one who is sent greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things you are blessed if you do them. I do not speak to all of you. I know the ones I have chosen. But it is that the scripture may be fulfilled, he who eats my bread is lifted up a seal against me. From now on I am telling you before it comes to pass, so that when it does occur you may believe that I am he. Truly, truly I say to you, he who receives whomever I send receives me, and he who receives me receives him who sent me. When Jesus had said this, he became troubled in spirit and testified and said, Truly, truly I say to you that one of you will betray me. Now, the scripture tells us Jesus is doing something here in this moment. It gives us plenty of language here that he's trying to teach something. But it also says that he's showing his disciples the full extent of his love, or he's loving them unto the end. Now, we know Jesus showed us God's love, right? He died on the cross for us, showing us the magnitude of God's love. He uh, this the scriptures tell us in Romans that through the Holy Spirit, God's love is poured out in our hearts, right? There are, we saw we see Jesus' loving character throughout the pages of the gospel. There's many ways in which we see Jesus' love, but this passage, the Holy Spirit has uh directed the Apostle John to note that in this moment Jesus showed them the full extent of his love. In this moment, Jesus was loving them unto the end, unto the end of his earthly life. And that is significant. And we're gonna look this morning at this concept of servant leadership. Before we dive into it, I just want to remind you of this. Think of the passage Brother Teddy read for us earlier. Teddy read a passage out of Luke. And in that passage, Jesus says, one of you is going to betray me. And then it says that the 12 apostles started asking themselves, is it me? Is it me? They were all asking themselves, was it me? Is it I? But then they start arguing about who's the greatest right afterwards. This passage says Jesus does this, gives them this tangible picture of how to serve one another. Uh that goes uh hand in hand with Jesus' uh philosophy of leadership that he's taught them on throughout his ministry, and then he tells them, someone's gonna betray me. So, in other words, this footwashing happened before he said one of you's gonna betray me tonight. And right afterwards, they have those conversations. But the other gospels tell us that this is a conversation that's come up before. One passage talks about a father bringing his son to be healed of a demon to Jesus, and they were arguing about who is the greatest at that point. And there are other passages that maybe we will look at briefly this morning that show that this isn't the first time Jesus is taught on leadership. But it is the first time that we know of that he got down and washed their feet as a common household servant. The scriptures highlight that Christ came to serve, that is, to accomplish God's will and to minister to God's people. This is the foundation of Jesus' philosophy of leadership. Matthew 20, verse 28, tells us the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. And the scriptures make abundantly clear again and again that all Jesus did, he did following our heavenly Father's lead, step by step. John 5, 19, Jesus says that the Son can do nothing by himself, he can only do what he sees the Father doing. John 5, verse 30 tells us that Jesus says, I judge only the way I am told, so my judgment is right. Being told what judgment to make from the Father. John 6, 38, Jesus states, for I've come down from heaven not to do my will, but to do the will of him who sent me. Mark 10, 45 says, For even uh echoes the words of Matthew 20, 28, saying, For even the Son of Man, even the Messiah did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. Paul tells us in Philippians 2, chapter 6 through 7, that Christ Jesus, though he was in the form of God or equal with God, he did not count equality with God a thing to be held on to, to be grasped. But he emptied himself by taking on the form of a servant. The scriptures don't leave it up to debate, they don't leave it up to discussion. Jesus came to serve. But Jesus didn't just come to serve, he called his followers to serve. In Luke 12, I mean sorry, in Luke 22, 27, it said Jesus ends his his teaching in that moment, saying, For who is greater, he who sits at the table or he who serves? Is it not he who sits at the table? And yet I am among you as the one who serves. In Matthew 23, verses eleven through twelve, Jesus tells them, The greatest among you shall be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted. And Mark 9 35 says this, and he sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, If any one desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all. So with this backdrop, with these few examples of Jesus' of evidence of Jesus coming to serve and him telling his disciples throughout his earthly ministry that they should serve, let us consider via the lens of our text what makes a leader a servant leader. First, what is the motive of servant leadership? The motive of certain leadership is Christ-like love. See, Jesus knew his suffering was imminent. Jesus knew he would have to die on the cross. Put yourself there. Imagine that you're Jesus, and you know that you're about to die one of the most excruciating deaths ever. And you know you're gonna get tortured before that. You know this is gonna be bad. You're not just gonna get shot and fall over. You're gonna get whipped and your back's gonna be hanging out, then you're gonna get nailed up on a tree, and all sorts of other things are gonna happen. And none of it, none of it, none of it's desirable, none of it's pleasing, none of it's none of it's good. You might want to go on vacation, right? You you might want to go back to that party where where uh Mary washed his feet. You you might you probably don't want to go help out at the local thrift store, right? You probably don't want to spend that last weekend, you know, uh cleaning up a junkyard or something, right? You want you would want something else. Jesus didn't take a vacation, Jesus knew his suffering was imminent, and he fought his focus was on the cross and fulfilling his father's will, but his focus was also on his asylums. These men who had walked with him for three years, these men who had followed him, whom he had chosen in front of the crowd that that was also following him, that he had uh invested in, that he had shared his heart with. The scriptures tell us in John 13, having loved his own, he loved them unto the end. And we know he's talking about these twelve because that's who's at the last supper. And he showed them the great extent of his love or the full extent of his love. This reminds us that the love we are called to is one that loves people consistently, even when facing personal difficulties. But it's not just a love that is boundless in this way or limitless and inexhaustible. It's not just a love that can make one die for someone else, but it would also make them serve them and meet their needs. Bee washing was a common need. When you traveled, you walked around in sandals. So when you got there, your feet were disgusting. You were all going to lay down. Somebody's feet were gonna be in your face. They didn't sit in chairs like us, right? Good chance your feet were gonna be in your face. Or you'd at least be able to smell them. So it was a need, and Jesus met it. So this love is boundless, but it's also a love that perseveres. See, Judas was already plotting to betray him, and Jesus knew it. Judas had left that meal where Mary washed Jesus' feet, looking into how he could still make a buck before Jesus did whatever he was going to do because he knew he wasn't gonna do what he wanted him to, and that was be a king on this earth, right then and there, kicking Rome out of town. Nonetheless, Jesus served even him. Note that Judas is among those whose feet get washed. Jesus might make some comments because Judas is there, but he still washes his feet. 1 Corinthians 13 tells us that love, godly love is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not irritable, does not keep a record of wrongs. Tells us love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things in verse 7. Christ-like love is inexhaustible. Christ-like love perseveres, it is steadfast through every circumstance without weakening. The love we are called to does not serve only those who are loyal and who appreciate us, but it serves all those God brings our wedding. If we love like Christ, we're gonna love people who aren't gonna love us back. We're gonna love people who will never never trust in Christ. So we hope and pray that every single one of them will trust in Christ. Mom and Dad, you have a call by God to point your kids to the gospel, to teach them the gospel, to pray that they trust in Christ and see his goodness and see his love and embrace his gospel, but you can't make them, right? I've seen parents raise kids the same way, and some reject Christ and others embrace Christ. It's sad. But the bottom line is you're called to love them no matter what happens. And I believe God answers prayer and that that he's merciful, and so I hope and pray that all of us who are parents here today that our children are saved. But God still calls us to love in a Christ-like way, with a love that's inexhaustible, with a love that perseveres, and a love that is grounded in something outside of ourselves. It's a love that is grounded in God, God-defined identity, and thus a love that is unconditional. See, Jesus knew who he was. He knew where he had come from, he knew where he was going. He did not have to earn it, he didn't have to prove it, he didn't have to perform to keep it, and neither do you. Each one of you who trusted in Christ as your Lord and Savior are perfectly loved. God has loved you. There's never been a time when God didn't love you. He's always loved you. And God will never love you more than he does right now, or than he did the day he first became a thought and was eternal mind. How do I know that? Because in John 15 it says, Jesus said, I love you as the Father has loved me. He's talking to the 12 disciples. There's never been a time when God the Father did not love the Son. And there never will be a time when God the Father did not love the Son. So we as believers know God loves us in spite of ourselves. We know that we can't earn his love. We know that he's freely given it to us in the Son. This is something we know that frees us. And Jesus knew his identity. And he knew his identity didn't come from the crowds. His identity didn't come from his mom and dad. His identity did not come from the Sanhedrin. His identity did not come from his success. His identity came from the Father. He knew his worth and his position were secure. And in the same way, you and I are free to love and care for one another. And others, even others outside the faith, with his love. Why? Because we are loved by him and have received his love. We love because God first loved us. You remember that verse? 1 John 4, verse 19. Same author of this text tells us that. Paul says in Romans 5.8, but God demonstrates his own love for us in this, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. When we were his enemies, when we weren't doing what he wanted us to, when we had no desire to know him and love him and follow him, he loved us. He went out of his way to find us.

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He told those he found first to go help him find us.

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Christ-like love is grounded in God-defined identity. It is inexhaustible and it perseveres. The model comes next. Jesus coming from this place of this great motive of love. It tells us in John 6 that God the Father has given Jesus some sheep, and Jesus is going to save them. That's a fact. It's certain. All that the Father has given him, he will save. And here we see Jesus operating from that motive, that motive of love, love for his sheep. And then he models that for them. And he shows them that he is not only confident in who God has called him to be, but that he is humble. If anybody who ever lived had the right not to be humble, it would be Jesus. Jesus certainly had the right not to be humble. But he embraced humility nonetheless. In verses, beginning of verse 4, going to verse 11, we see the humility of Christ. We see that Jesus laid aside his garments, his clothing, not all of them, but most of them.

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And he washed his disciples' dirty feet. The one they thought would be a conquering king was washing their feet. The king had become a servant. And they saw genuine humility.

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But then they started thinking about it. And we didn't see the resistance of the worldly mind and the example of Peter. Let's look again at verses six through eight. So when he came to Simon Peter, Simon Peter said to him, Lord, do you wash my feet? Jesus answered and said to him, What I do, you don't realize now, but But you will understand hereafter. Peter said to him, Never shall you wash my feet. And Jesus answered him, If I do not wash you, you have no part with me. Then Peter changed his tune and said to him, Lord, then wash not only my feet, but also my hands and my head. Peter could not understand such humility. He believed leadership should be above such a task. He cringed at the thought of Jesus cleaning his dirty feet.

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He knew this was beneath his Lord, his master.

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Why do I mention that here? Because those with the love of Christ gladly embrace truth. We have to put truth to lies. That's what Jesus was doing for Peter here. Jesus was saying, I know you don't get it, but you need this. I know you don't get it, but this is important. And Jesus taught him in the midst of it. We're going to come back to that. What we see here is that Jesus' act of service exposed something. It exposed his disciples' pride. We see this in two ways. We see this in Peter's words. Here, there's a little bit of pride here. I'm going to speak up. I'm going to say, Don't wash my feet, Lord. This is beneath you. But we also see it in that conversation that Brother Teddy read for us, right? They went from saying, Is it I to who's the greatest among us? Surely the great, you know, the greatest isn't going to be the one who attraced him, but pride all throughout that conversation. But we also see it in this the fact that their pride kept them from washing each other's feet. Right? One of them could have done it. One of them could have come in and started helping everybody wash the feet. But Jesus did it because none of them had done so. I'm not saying that's the main reason or the only reason Jesus did it, but there is that fact that none of them had done so. Human thinking seeks position. Christ-like leadership seeks to show great care through service, shows one's followers that they should humbly do likewise and care for one another. You see, in verses 4 through 11, we not only see the humility of Christ and this resistance of the worldly mind, but we also see a lesson on cleansing. In verses 9 through 11, Jesus points beyond the physical washing of their feet to the reality of the spiritual cleansing he is also going to perform when he goes to the cross. But what I hope you'll see this morning is this, brothers and sisters, and I'm talking to you now, just as believers. Yes, it's true for fathers, yes, it's true for others, but for us as brothers and sisters in Christ, the scripture has a few things to say that go hand in hand with this idea of spiritual cleansing, washing of Jesus, of us. It tells us in 1 John 1:7 that if we walk in the light, as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his son, cleanses us from all sin, cleanses us present, ongoing. If we confess our sins, he is faithful, righteous, that he will forgive us of our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness, 1 John 1, 9. The author of Hebrews in chapter 9, verse 14, also tells us the blood of Christ, through who through the eternal spirit offered himself without blemish unto God, cleanses, again, there's that present, ongoing action, our conscience from dead works so that we can serve the living God.

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Only Christ can cleanse the sinner.

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It is him who loves us and has set us free from our sins by his blood, according to Revelation 1.5. And there is one who has said this better than I, so I'm going to just point out some of the things he highlights about it. I speak of the late Dr. R. C. Sproull. He taught, in considering this passage, that footwashing incident was a profound visual parable of the cross and of the gospel. He explained that Jesus' act of humbling himself to wash the disciples' feet perfectly mirrors the humiliation and ultimate cleansing power of Christ's atoning sacrifice at Calvary. He talked about how Jesus condescended, Jesus, fully God, willingly stripped off his garments and took the role of the lowest household servant. And that this deliberate lowering of himself foreshadowed how he would be stripped, humbled, and sent to die on the cross. And he focused on the reality that this was a visual aid, a visual way of teaching that Jesus enacted, demonstrated it by washing their feet. He was illustrating the forgiveness and inner purification the gospel offers to believers. When Jesus says in verse 10, he who has bathed needs only to wash his feet, but it's completely clean, and you are clean, but not all of you, he's saying, he's alluding to this reality that those who trusted in Christ have been washed by the blood. They've been cleansed. And yet there's cleansing that still needs to take place. And I'm not talking about cleansing the saving, to save your soul, right? In the sense of, you know, Jesus died once for all to pay for our sins. But I am talking about the reality that when you sin, you still need to go to him. He already paid for it on the cross. There's no new transaction that needs to take place. But you still need to go to him to be cleansed, to cleanse your conscience, as it talks about in Hebrews chapter 9. You still need to go to him. When a brother who has something against you comes to you and tells you, I've got something against you, like the scriptures command him to do. When that brother comes to you and says, I've sinned against you, please forgive me. Right? In embracing that moment and submitting to the Spirit's lead in that moment, and submitting to God's word in that moment, what are you doing?

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You're letting Jesus wash you. Or flip it around.

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There's other scriptures that tell us that if someone sinned against you, you need to go to them and say, Confront that situation.

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Let them know that you believe they sinned against you. Same thing's happening there.

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The scriptures tell us that husbands are to wash their wives with the water of the word.

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It's the word that does the word. It's Christ that does the washing. And let me tell you, God washes me from the word when my wife speaks to me about God's word. And I'm blessed by it.

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We, the scriptures indicate that being a disciple requires humbly accepting this cleansing from Christ rather than trying to earn one's own salvation at the foot of the cross. But it equally teaches that being a disciple requires humbly accepting this cleansing from Christ through one another. You might think I'm crazy, but I ask you to search the scriptures and look at these passages and ask yourself not in the things that God commands us to do to one another, if that's not God working in our lives through each other. That's not God reminding us of his truth and bringing us back to it and clearing our consciences. But it certainly foreshadowed his work on the cross in some way, as Dr. Sprohl unpacks. He emphasizes lastly that John introduces this scene by stating Jesus loved his own to the end, and that the fush washing is a physical demonstration of his unconditional sacrificial love. And it's not a suggestion, but a command that Christ gives his followers in this moment, a command to emulate his servant-hearted love by washing the feet of others. As believers, we extend this radical grace, love, and forgiveness to the world and they continue the ministry of the gospel. When you and I genuinely love other people the way that God's called us to love other people, when we genuinely share the gospel with them so that they might too might be saved, when we genuinely embrace them no matter what they're wearing, no matter what they're doing, no matter where they come from, we show them Christ's love. We, in a sense, are washing their feet. We're meeting them and helping them see their need. Servant leadership begins with a servant savior. There's an immense depth to this startling, to the startling intimacy of Jesus performing this lowly act. Here we are given a perfect portrait of the Savior, where he establishes a new standard for service, what it means to love one another. Jesus gives this one final reminder before he goes to the cross that he is the ultimate servant king. Here his example becomes a direct command for believers to imitate his humble love and their relationships with each other. So we've seen the motive and we've seen the model, and we've just touched upon the mandate. The mandate of sermon servant leadership is imitation. Jesus explains through his example that he remains Lord and teacher. His authority is not diminished at all by serving, yet he came to serve. And he calls those who follow him to serve. He tells them, you also ought to wash one another's feet. This principle of humble service is not merely a ritual. It's not something that we should enact literally all the time. It is something we enact spiritually. Christian leadership is measured by sanctified service, not titles. No matter our status in life, no matter our status in the church, no matter our status in the home, we should gladly go low to serve others. And Jesus is, Jesus does not only explain this to his followers in this moment, he doesn't just command his followers that they should do this as he has done, but he promises blessing. Blessing through embracing this reality. He promises this blessing in verses 16 and 17, saying, Truly, truly I say to you, a slave is not greater than his master, nor is the one who is sent greater than the one who sent them. I do not speak, I'm I'm sorry.

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If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.

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Jesus' leadership was demonstrated here, not just in action, not just in by extr instruction and correction, but it was demonstrated with great emphasis because it was a reminder of what he had been showing them from the beginning. But it was a reminder with an exclamation mark because he showed them in such a vivid way. This footwashing incident we should note was intimately connected to the way Jesus works in our hearts to love one another. He tells another parable in another passage about two men that one man that's forgiven a debt by a king. And then that man goes out and finds another guy who owes him a debt and he doesn't forgive him, and then he takes that guy that the king takes that guy that he had forgiven and throws him in jail. The church is made up entirely of servants of the king, who all stand on level ground before his throne. And Jesus has clearly said they are to do something. They are to love one another. Turn the page with me if you still have your Bible open to John chapter 13, verses 34 and 35. A new commandment I give to you that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another. A passage often quoted, often remembered, and often pointed to loving all people everywhere. People outside the church. But that's not what the text says. Yes, we're to love people outside the church. And certainly, if we learn to love each other with the love that Christ has for us, we will show that to others outside the church, not just ourselves. But the passage says, love one another. Who's the one another that are there to be in love? His followers. We're to love those that are in the church. Those are the ones whose feet we should be willing to wash. And I've already alluded to how we might do that. So we've seen this morning a motive for servant leadership. We've seen a model and we've seen the mandate. Last comes the test of servant leadership. Not everyone will respond faithfully. Verse 18 shows us that there is one among them who is not going to respond faithfully, Judas. Judas was physically present, but spiritually absent. Just like our Lord, we will experience disappointment and betrayal. We will be hurt by those we love. It's inevitable. But just like Jesus, we should serve anyway. He continued his mission despite knowing what Judas would do. He showed Judas love, as already noted, even though he knew what Judas was about to do.

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I'm sure Judas thought about it when he hung himself.

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Jesus doesn't just show them how to love, doesn't just remind them how to love. But Jesus also reminds them that when they love each other the way he calls them to love each other, that when we when they receive that love from each other, they're receiving his love. Where do we see that? We see that in verse 20. Verse 20 says, Truly, truly, I say to you, who who he who receives whomever I send receives me, and he who receives me receives him who sent me. You might think I'm crazy. I hope you don't. But Jesus just sent them. And he does it again in verse 34 and 35. He sends them to love one another. He commands them to love one another. He didn't give them an option.

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He says, You love your brother like I love you.

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And then he says in verse 20, he who receives whomever I send receives me. So if Sean Cranfield or Stephen Adams accept some help from me at some point in our lives, if I'm able to go help pull one of them out of a ditch, or vice versa, they're receiving Christ's love through me. If Sean Baker notices something that just seems off with me or Jason, and he talks to us and says, Hey, brother, what's going on? You okay? Can I pray for you?

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I'm not just receiving love for my brother, I'm receiving Christ's love for me. That's the test of servant leadership.

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Faithfulness in giving and receiving this kind of love. Here in this act of service carried out by our Lord and Savior, we see both the sovereignty of Christ and the unfailing covenantal love of our Savior. Jesus knew precisely who belonged to him and who would betray him. Despite doing everything that was about to unfold, Jesus chose to focus on his disciples' ultimate spiritual and physical needs rather than his own needs. He showed them that he loved them enough to help them with a common need, washing their feet. But he also showed them they needed much more washing than that. And they would have a lifetime of washing they would need from him. We all struggle with things, right? We're lying to ourselves if we don't say we struggle with things.

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You think into whatever you struggle with, don't you know Jesus can help you with it? Don't you know that he's given you a family in him that can help you through that struggle?

SPEAKER_01 40:59

His command for his disciples to do unto each other even as he had done to them, and his command for his followers to be known by their love for one another. It's that lens here that we see serving leadership is ultimate. Ultimately, ministry done like Jesus on behalf of Jesus. It's ministry wherein believers strive to love others, even as God has loved them. It's one of the ways we become the hands and feet of Jesus in this age. This was an unshakable demonstration of Christ's love for his own when we follow Christ's command to love others, especially one another among the family of Christ. Not just as we love ourselves. You remember that great commandment? Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself. This is that on steroids. Christ commanded to love others not just as we love ourselves, but to love others as he did. When we embrace this, when we do this, we become tangible manifestations of Christ's love to others today. Christians should use their freedom in Christ to serve one another. Paul tells us in Galatians 5.13, through love, serve one another. In Philippians 2, verses 3 to 4, he says, In humility, count others more significant than yourselves. In 1 Corinthians 12, he explains how different spiritual gifts work together for the common good. In Ephesians 5.21, he commands believers to submit to one another. Brothers and sisters, as we come to a close, as Jason or the worship team come up, consider these two things. First, the quote you may or may not have heard before from Napoleon. Napoleon had a conversation with one of his generals toward the ends of his life, and one of the comments he made in that conversation was this He said, Alexander Caesar and Charlemagne and I have all founded empires. But on what do we rest the creations of our Jesus, of our genius upon force? But Jesus Christ founded his empire upon love, and at this hour, millions would die for him. We're called to love one another with a love that is rooted in Christ like love, that's driven by humility, that's modeled after Christ. We embrace this by using our gifts, our God-given shape, and bearing one another's burdens and encouraging each other daily, submitting to one another, and encouraging each other on to loving good deeds. I would say the key verse in this passage is John 13, verse 15. For I have given you an example that you should do as I have done to you. But our main idea is certainly this that Jesus demonstrates true great that true greatness is found in humble service. He instructed his disciples to realize Christian leadership is not exercised through power, position, or privilege, but through sacrificial love and servant-hearted ministry among his followers to one another. And brothers and sisters, I don't care if you're standing up here leading in worship. I don't care if you're giving a devotion or preaching a sermon or leading a Bible study. I don't care if you're setting up chairs or you're washing dishes.

SPEAKER_00 44:40

They're all forms of leadership. They're all forms of obeying Christ's command.

SPEAKER_01 44:50

Heavenly Father, we just want to follow you. That's what you told us to do. You told us to repent and believe and surrender all to you, to follow you wherever you lead us. You clearly led the 12 year and you clearly indicated that this was for all your followers, that we would follow your example. Help us to search our hearts this morning. Help us as fathers, Lord, as mothers, as brothers and sisters in Christ, to follow this example and teach us what that means. Each and every day. We can do all things through you to strengthen us. We can do what you command us to do through the power of your Holy Spirit and the fullness of your love, Lord. We ask you to do this work in us through your glory and our good. In Jesus' name. Amen.